St. Albans Early Childhood Center At Christ, DC

God has done great things with our church and continues to do so by teaching us his word and building our spiritual life. Please join us every Saturday night to worship and share the Word of God with each other. May Gods Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness dwell with you now and forever! Founded in 1972 by Margaret Sloan, a former parishioner of St. Alban’s Church, St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center (SAECC) is a not-for-profit organization guided by a Board of Directors comprised of parents, staff, two St. Alban’s Parish representatives, and interested community members from the metro area. The Center has been accredited by the National Association for the Education of young Children (NAEYC) since 1997. SAECC is economically and ethnically diverse. Our 55 children come to us from all over the DC Metropolitan area and from a wide range of economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We also actively seek a mixed group of teachers and staff. Together, we provide an atmosphere in which all individuals are valued and respected. Nurturing and strengthening a sense of self-respect and respect for others is fundamental to our philosophy of education. To support our policy of economic integration of families, we hold a contract with the DC Department of Human Services, which partially funds slots to low income families. Our Board of Executive directors and Parents’ Association raise funds to supplement tuition for middle income families through sliding scale slots. The SAECC curriculum is based on NAEYC standards – the highest in early childhood education. Our educational program includes creative expression, languages, reading readiness, math, science, music, outdoor play and emotional development. During indoor and outdoor play, with carefully selected materials, children establish important foundations for conceptual learning. Children become increasingly independent as they learn to dress themselves, set tables for lunch, serve their own food and drinks and clean up after themselves. They learn about their environment through neighborhood exploration and about the city by taking field trips (mostly on public transportation). Teachers have degrees in Early Childhood, Child Development, and/or Education. Assistant teachers have a Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) or are in the process of obtaining one. All staff members have CPR and First Aid Training. Staff training is, also, continuous. All staff receives a minimum of 30 hours of training per year. Before being hired, all staff must submit an incident free criminal background clearance, three positive references, a positive health report ensuring they are free from any communicable diseases including TB. Staff submits clearances annually.